


Let's Try a Different Approach

by jenjen92



Series: We might need to work for this, but we will be okay. [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Complete, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Romance, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-05 22:57:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4198218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenjen92/pseuds/jenjen92
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Steve was close enough to Tony to understand that at least a significant part of his confident, flirty and erratic nature was a front. However not close enough to know how to get past it. Tony was an enigma."</p><p>When Tony starts showing signs of worrying behavior to the rest of the team Steve, as requested by Bruce, makes it his mission to find out why and perhaps help. However as Steve soon finds out, Tony is not as straight-forward as he would have hoped. As he tries to get Tony to open up, to his surprise Steve's own feelings begin to change as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First attempts

Steve was not surprised when Bruce told him quietly that he was sure Tony had been experiencing frequent panic attacks. And that his habits seemed to be becoming even more self-destructive. He was sure Bruce was informing him of this because he was, after all, Captain of the Avengers and he always did that little bit extra to ensure the welfare of the team. But when it came to Tony, he did not know what to do. He was close enough to him to understand that at least a significant part of his confident, flirty and erratic nature was a front. However not close enough to know how to get past it. Tony was an enigma. Steve ran his hands roughly through his blonde hair. Why Bruce thought that he had any ability to help Tony was beyond him. Steve and Tony were like chemicals that should never be mixed, the results were always explosive. As the closest team member to Tony, shouldn’t Bruce _himself_ be the one to help him to open up, especially as he had done so to Bruce once before. But the strained look in the scientist’s eyes when he talked to Steve revealed that he had already tried. So once again the burden fell to Captain America. His team would be the death of him.

Cradling a freshly brewed cup of coffee Steve knocked firmly on the door of Tony’s primary workshop. After hearing no response he almost turned away, but J.A.R.V.I.S did state that was where he could find him. Steve pushed opened the door slowly and took a step inside. Tony was standing over a motorcycle in the depths of the workshop, large headphones firmly on his head playing a heavy metal tune that Steve could hear from the other side of the room. His features were worn and tired but his eyes were alive with burning focus on his work. It was a side to Tony which was often overshadowed; Steve thought as he walked carefully towards Tony as not to startle him and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. With that simple tap Tony jumped like a frightened rabbit and dropped the tool which he was holding on his foot with a loud curse. When he noticed Steve after reclaiming his tool, he removed his headphones with a raised eyebrow.

“What the hell Cap, you could have knocked!” Tony exclaimed, his gaze wandering to the coffee in Steve’s hand. “Is that for me?”

“Yes, enjoy.” Steve said with a smile which he hoped did not seem too forced as he placed the coffee on the side bench, “And I did knock.”

Tony eyed the drink suspiciously before picking it up and taking a noisy sip.

“So, what brings Captain America on a rare visit to my workshop this fine morning? I doubt it is to be my personal coffee maker or to check the progress on your motorcycle.”

“My motorcycle?” Steve asked curiously, feeling slightly awed, walking over to the vehicle that Tony was working on and running his hands over the frame.

“I’m upgrading its engine and enhancing its weapon capabilities.” Tony said returning to his work and avoiding looking at Steve, “Although as you go through motorcycles faster than I go through drinks, it will probably blow up by dinner tomorrow.”

“But I appreciate it all the same.” Steve paused unsure how to bring up the topic, and then finally cleared his throat. “Do you have a moment to talk, Stark?”

“Yeah, shoot.”

“I, um, have heard that you have been having…a tough time recently.”

“What do you mean a tough time?” Tony stopped his tinkering and put down his tools, looking Steve in the eye.

“That you have been having panic attacks and not, um, coping well.”

“Bruce, that big green son of a…he has told you?” Tony half yelled, breaking his eye contact with Steve and turning around to face the opposite wall. “Scratch that question, we are not having this conversation.”

“Stark…Tony,” Steve started, walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder which he found surprisingly warm, “I just wanted to say that I am worried about you-“

“In case it affects our team play? Or fucks up a mission?”

“No.” Steve said with a sigh, “Because I am worried about _you._ We all are. It might help if you talk to me about it. I don’t have much experience but I will try my best to help.”  

Tony then turned around and shrugged off Steve’s hand from his shoulder which caused a quick unknown pain to pang in his chest. His gaze was intense.

“You know, I didn’t know today was counselling with Capsicle,” he said coolly, nodding towards the door, “thank you for the coffee. Tasted like bribery.”

“Tony I-“

“Thank you.”

Steve opened his mouth again to try and finish his sentence but closed it again with the look that Tony was giving him. With another sigh he left the workshop, defeated, hearing the door close securely behind him. Being kind didn’t work, Steve thought with a grimace. It was time to try a different approach.

∞

Although Steve did not need the amount of sleep most people required, he equally was not usually still awake at 3 in the morning. However tonight was different. He had J.A.R.V.I.S set an alarm to wake him so he could attempt to send Tony to bed. Since the incident in the workshop the air has been awkward between them and they only talked when necessary, but from the look of the genius billionaire he had not been getting any better. Black bags lay underneath his eyes and his words lacked their usual bite. It seemed as though Tony was running on empty, and it was hard for Steve to see him that way. At first he was only investigating into Tony because of obligation that Bruce had asked to him, but along the way that had changed into deep concern.

“J.A.R.V.I.S, where is Tony Stark currently?” he asked with a yawn, still feeling silly talking to the air.

“Sir is currently in lab two.”

Bingo, Steve thought as he leapt out of his bed and slipped his feet into his slippers. When he reached the lab he was surprised to find that the door was not locked. Pushing it open he could see Tony running stress tests on what seemed to be a prototype of a new harness for Steve’s shield. Countess mugs were scattered across the surfaces, and from the way Tony was swaying lightly on his feet Steve had no idea how he was still standing.

“Go to bed, right now.” Steve said sternly, striding boldly into the lab. This time instead of jumping Tony simply rolled his eyes at the super solider.

“I am kind of busy here, mom.” He retorted, waving Steve away with a flick of his hand.

“It will wait until morning. Go to bed.”

“It _is_ morning.”

“You’re a mess.”

“How observant of you, they don’t call you America’s best for nothing.”  

Steve took in a deep breath, counting to ten slowly in his head.

“You need sleep Stark! You can’t keep going like this; you will collapse at any moment. Then how will you work? Go to bed right now or else!”

When Steve raised his voice Tony put down the harness and walked towards him, stopping when he was standing a step just too close to him for comfort. Steve could almost feel the prickle of Tony’s goatee against his chin, and he had to use all of his willpower not to flutter his eyes closed.

“Or else what?” Tony asked, exaggerating his lip movements.

“Or else I will pick you up and carry you to bed. We both know I can do that.”

The pair kept up a penetrating gaze into each other’s eyes, neither letting up as though it was a battle that needed to be won. Eventually Tony broke eye contact, groaning loudly.

“I w _ant_ to sleep, of course I do!” He said loudly, slamming his hands on a workbench, “I just can’t okay?”

“…You’re having nightmares.” Steve spoke slowly, half way between a declaration and a question.

“Well shit, we have another genius in the room.” Tony said, but from his voice carried a hint of relief, like he was holding in that confession for a long time and needed to get it out.

“Do you want to talk about them?” Steve asked, his tone of voice returning from stern to gentle.

“Ohhh no, we aren’t starting this ‘I am here for you’ bull again.”

“But I am.”

Tony paused and stared at Steve, searching for a lie in his features.

“I am not talking about it right now.” He said, and Steve had to hold back a smile. It was not a flat out rejection and he could live with that.

“Okay. Now about sleep…”

“Fine, I will go to bed.” Tony said with a level of uncertainty, “I will go now, happy?”

“Very,” Steve said flashing a smile, “Would it help if I stayed in the room with you?”

Steve meant it as a joke, but it seemed as though Tony was seriously considering his question until he finally smiled weakly.

“Maybe next time.”

As Steve returned to his own bedroom, he thought about Tony’s words. Did he mean it as a joke too? Steve crawled back into bed and after confirming with J.A.R.V.I.S that Tony had indeed gone to sleep, closed his eyes. Instead of the usual darkness, he could only see Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my first work on this site, I appreciate it! This was originally going to all be one chapter but it started to get long so I have decided to split it into four manageable chunks. One will be uploaded each day. It is inspired by the events of Age of Ultron, but as you can probably see, do not quite follow it!  
> If you enjoyed it, I would be happy if you showed it with a comment or kudos, and I am also taking requests. (More information on my profile!)


	2. Next approach

It was not as though Steve was in denial about his sexuality. Despite taking a while to admit it to himself he was now comfortable about his bisexuality, but because it had never come up in any conversations he had no need to inform anyone else about it. What Steve was not yet comfortable with, however, was the issue that he seemed to be slowly –but steadily- falling for Tony Stark. He could not help but keep his eyes on him whenever he entered the room, watching each of his animated movements with a concentrated focus. Conversations which were sparse between them before now becoming more frequent, Steve unable to stop himself making even just small talk. So it was noticeable to Steve when the signs started to appear that Tony was still not getting any better. He was getting worse.

Yes, Tony had good days. He would be all smiles and jokes and talking loudly about his last meeting or latest project, the exact image that the media paints him as. But then there was the rest of the time. Times where Tony would not emerge from his workshop for what seemed like _days,_ locking himself in with no evidence of food being consumed or sleep being taken and Pepper having a fit that he was missing this and that important meeting. There were times where Steve had walked past his lab to hear screaming, only muffled slightly by the soundproofing in the walls. Times where the team had to undertake a mission without ‘Iron Man’ because the hero was currently unconscious, breath stinking of alcohol. And even with the now frequent conversations, the topic of the nightmares and more had still not been breached between them. Steve needed to move to his next approach.

Steve had just finished breakfast when he knocked on the door to laboratory one, and was thankful when he heard the cheery voice of Tony telling him the door was open.  He was lucky to have caught Tony in one of his better moments. His clothes and face looked clean and he was eating a blueberry muffin while lazily flicking through virtual computer monitor screens. As Steve entered he looked up and grinned, beckoning him further inside.

“Cap! Come to have a bite of my muffin?” Tony winked cheekily and Steve rolled his eyes dramatically.

“I’ll pass.  I am here to spend the day in here with you.”

“Wait- what?” Tony asked, watching as Steve playfully sat down on a stool and feigned interest at some notes on the nearby workbench. “Why?”

“I decided that to better understand the team I should spend a day with each of them in their environment. It’ll improve our team play, and I will think of better strategies. I am going in reverse alphabetical order of first names, and I have a free day today, so you are up first Tony.”

“Wow.” Said Tony choking back a laugh, “That is probably the biggest pile of shit I have heard anyone say in a long time- I mean reverse alphabetical order, of first names? Genius Steve, pure genius.”

“I’m not-“

“I mean, if you just wanted to spend the day with me then just ask.” Tony paused to pick up a pair of googles and pushed them on top of his head, “Although, I am curious.”

“Oh?” Steve asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Is this anything to do with the fact that you are _clearly_ trying to get me to confess all my woes to you?”

Steve felt his cheeks redden but tried to ignore it.

“Of course not.”

“Sure?” Tony narrowed his eyes.

“Like you said, I just want to spend a day with a good friend.”

Both Tony and Steve seemed surprised at those words. The subject of their friendship had never been discussed, or even thought of. There was an awkward silence that lasted too long for Steve’s liking until Tony shrugged and threw him a pair of goggles which he caught instinctively in one hand.

“Okay then. If you’re going to be here you can make yourself useful,” Tony said changing the monitor screen to what seemed like impossible to read notes, “I was going to work on your suit today. You can draw so have some design input, and I may decide to listen to it.”

“I need a new suit?” Steve asked, frowning at the monitors that began to flash various designs in front of his eyes.

“Your shield can’t protect you from everything…” Tony muttered under his breath and then coughed loudly, “I just want to improve its protective properties while keeping it light and easy to move in. As well as getting the balance in the colour scheme between patriotic and circus act just right.”

Steve chuckled lightly and put his hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“It seems like you need a lot of help then.”

Hours just seemed to slip away as Tony and Steve worked in the lab, with the odd visit from Bruce to give his opinion on their designs. Steve had to admit that he did not expect to have so much fun. Although he was not as helpful as he would have liked to be, the room was filled with the sounds of laughter and Steve found himself almost forgetting the purpose of his visit as he fell further for the billionaire’s charm. Easy to forget that the same charm is used to keep people from seeing the torment within him.

“Cap?” Tony asked hesitantly as the pair were taking a break and sipping on a coffee, the distance between them unusually short, “do you mind if I talk?”

“You always talk.” Steve said doodling on a scrap piece of paper with his free hand.

“About…why I have been so messed up recently. More than usual, I mean.”

Steve almost spat out his coffee as he immediately sat up straight, looking at Tony deep into his eyes.

“Yes, yes!” He said almost too eagerly, “I’m here for you.”

“Great.” Tony said, trying to avoid Steve’s line of sight. “There is something I have been keeping from you, all of you. I have wanted to say and should have really, a long time ago. It’s been driving me crazy. Literally, as you have seen. But how could I? No one here trusts me anyway.”

“Why wouldn’t we trust you?” Steve asked, trying to shuffle closer to Tony discreetly.

“One word. Ultron.”

Steve immediately tensed after hearing that word, and he could see Tony flinch slightly at his reaction. True, Ultron was a mistake. A big one. But to say that no one trusted him afterwards…thinking about it, there might be some legitimacy in his words. Natasha had certainly seemed more cautious towards him, and was constantly questioning Bruce on what they were doing. He couldn’t really answer for Clint or Thor, who was not often around anyway.  Himself, however somehow held on to trust in Tony. That was a bit of a shock to him, trusting Tony. After the pure anger had faded after the creation of Ultron, Iron Man had proved himself and took Steve’s words to heart, focussing on team play. Yes, he could trust him.

“I trust you.” Steve said firmly. Tony raised an eyebrow, but Steve kept his face straight and unwavering. He could tell, however, that he was not believed.

“It’s about Ultron, actually.” He took a long, slow sip of coffee. “The reason why I created that bastard.”

“Was it related to something Wanda showed you? Because she showed us all some things that hit us where it hurts. We all talked about it in a group counselling session, remember? You joined in.”

“Yes it is. But I lied in the session.”

“You…why? What was the point of lying?” Steve’s voice came out harder than he intended, and he could see Tony’s expression becoming more guarded.

“It wasn’t something I could just say; it affected me, it affected everyone on the damn team.” Tony finished the remainder of his coffee in a single swig and pushed the mug far away from him.

“If it affected the whole team, then that is even more of a reason to say!” Steve shouted, springing to his feet and towering over the physicist, “your ridiculous stubbornness could one day put the whole of us in danger! In fact, it already has.”

The look of betrayal could not have been masked on Tony’s face as the words fell from Steve’s mouth. His eyes flashed with anger once before changing to something else unrecognisable as he stood up from his seat.

“You know what, fuck this. I can’t deal with it.” Tony headed for the door but Steve got there first, standing in front of it with arms wide to block his exit.

“Tony, wait.” He sighed, grabbing his wrist as he tried to get past him, “let’s sit back down and you can tell me everything.”

“What, so I can be further judged by our holy captain?” Tony said coolly, making another attempt to move past Steve who did not budge an inch.

“Look, I am sorry. I anger easily. We are both hot heads and I just...let’s just talk, okay? I promise to not cast any judgement.”

After a moment of silent stillness Steve reached out slowly for Tony’s hand, grasping it loosely, and led him back to where they were sitting. His hand was rough, desperately aching for moisture, but warm, and Tony made no attempt to pull away and allowed himself to be guided.

“Whatever you saw, whatever Wanda showed you, it isn’t real. You know that, right?” Steve said gently, letting go of Tony’s hand.

“But I made it come true. Sort of.” Tony said, his eyes fixated on the wall, “Or I will.”

“Why don’t you start by just telling me what it is then we can see where to go from there,” Steve’s patience was not as long as people thought, “keeping quiet has not done you any favours so far. ” he added when he was greeted with more silence.

“God, yeah your right. Don’t tell anyone I said that, though.”

“I probably won’t.” Steve grinned and Tony rolled his eyes with a smile.

“Before I recovered Loki’s sceptre, I was shown a vision. It actually really shook me up and still does now, clearly. I-”

Tony was cut off suddenly by a loud alarm screeching throughout the tower, and red flashing lights filled the room. The pair stood up immediately, heading out of the lab door and walking briskly down the corridor.

“J.A.R.V.I.S, status.” Tony demanded as they entered the lift to reach the briefing room.

“Stark, is Captain Rogers there with you?” The voice of Natasha calmly filled the lift from the intercom.

“Yeah, we are both here.” Steve replied, stretching his arms, “What is the situation?”

“We have an attack in New York from an unknown source.” Natasha said and Tony groaned, “Clint is already waiting in the Quinjet in hanger one. Stark, you fly out solo and survey the damage for us. Suit up and be quick about it, we will discuss tactics on the way.”

“And is Bruce…”

“Bruce will be manning the fort. Well tower. Romanov out.”

“New York, how convenient.” Tony said in a tone drenched with sarcasm which Steve chose to ignore.

“We will continue our conversation later. Right now we have a city to save.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed the work so far! I hope you all continue to enjoy reading it!


	3. Is this an approach?

The sound of screams mixed with the crash of rubble hitting the ground echoed in Steve’s ears as the Qunjet he was riding in landed unusually smoothly in the streets of New York. He could see a red and gold blur shoot through the sky towards an explosion and he said a silent prayer for his safety.

“It’s Hydra.” Tony’s voice said clearly through the rest of the team’s headsets, “My guess is they realise we are on to them recently and are trying to draw us out, to destroy us before we can work out what little game they are planning.”

“Right. For now getting civilians into safety is our priority.” Steve said jogging out into the centre of the fray and gesturing for Natasha and Clint to follow him, “Stark, see if you can find their leader and try to direct any attacks away from civilians. Barton, get to a vantage point and take out what you can. Romanov, you’re with me. Rogers out.”

Each team member carried out their duties, arrows flying faster than the enemies could blink. Steve and Natasha were progressing through the streets, taking out Hydra soldiers and moving civilians out of harm’s way as they went.

“I don’t like it,” Clint’s voice and the snap of the bow audible from the headset, “These goons are too arrogant although their numbers aren’t that many and we can rip through them like paper. They must be planning something.”

“Like this is a decoy.” Natasha said slowly as Steve held up his shield to block a bullet. “Stark, got any information for us?”

“Still working on it, princess.” Tony said teasingly, “wait- shit.” His tone changed in an instant. “There’s a bomb.”

“Where? Can you disable it?” Steve asked hurriedly.

“Relax, I couldn’t call myself a genius if I could not disable one bomb. I am transferring the location to all of you now.”

“Can you scan the area for more, Stark?” Clint grimaced, “They know you can disable a bomb like child’s play, there must be more to this than that.”

“I have J.A.R.V.I.S on it,” Tony stated,” reached the bomb location, beginning disable now.”

“I have located three more bombs in the vicinity of New York City,” The voice of J.A.R.V.I.S spoke through the headsets of each Avenger, “You should now have their locations. They are set to detonate in 15 minutes.”

“They are spread out across the city!” Clint exclaimed studying their locations, “Stark can’t get to all of them. Nat, your spy skills still hold up?”

“Never better.” Natasha replied briefly, already heading forwards, “I am going to point C.”

“Right, can you disable bombs Barton?” Steve asked, his voice wavering slightly.

“Yup. Heading for point A.” Came the reply, and Steve let out a low breath.

“We all know you have the equivalent skills of an elephant trying to dance swan lake when it comes to things like this Cap, so once I am done here I will go to point B.” Tony said calmly, “I should make it so you just focus on clearing the area of civilians. Just in case.”

“Okay, sure you will make it?”

“Pretty sure. Like, above 80 percent.” Tony’s voiced was filled with concentration, “Just promise you won’t do anything stupid. Or anything at all, really.” He added.

Steve did not answer Tony as he raced towards the site of the bomb. Time was not slowing down. As he reached the area, civilians were already sparse, but those who were left were standing close to the bomb’s location, phones set to film.

“Everyone, you need to get out!” Steve yelled, trying to usher the small crowd away, “There is a bomb in this area, you need to leave now!”

After the word ‘bomb’ was mentioned the sound of screams intensified as the crowd began to run, those still reluctant to leave filming on their phones jostled in the process. Within moments the area was cleared and Steve let out a sigh before proceeding into the high story building where the bomb was supposed to be located. To his relief, it was not hard to find.

“I am in point B, civilians cleared and bomb located.” He announced to the rest of the team.

“Good. Just stay there like a good soldier and don’t touch anything.” Tony said through the intercom, “I am nearly done here.”

 “Stark, you’re getting slow in your old age.” Clint half laughed, “I am already done. But I won’t make it to point B in time, neither will Nat. There are three minutes left. We don’t all have thrusters.”

“For your information I was trying to rewire it to-“

“What have I told you about acting on your own and not following orders?” Steve snapped over the intercom and Tony audibly sighed.

“I am done. Heading towards point B. ETA 1 minute.”

“That’s not enough time…” Steve said through gritted teeth.

“I will drop the bomb into the Atlantic. Get away from the area.” Tony said sharply, the sound of the wind rushing past him crackling through the headset.

“Impossible. It is set to detonate if removed. It’ll have to blow up where it is.” Natasha’s said quickly, “But that is a big building. There will be some casualties, it is too late to evacuate nearby buildings where it might fall.”

“I will see if I can do something, try to soften the blast with my shield.”

“Don’t be stupid, Steve!” Stark shouted through the intercom making Steve flinch slightly, he never used his name. “It will blast you past smithereens. Just get out of there. Now!”

“I can’t. Not when I may be able to help stop others getting hurt.”

After speaking Steve ripped off the communication device, tossing it aside. He could not bear to hear Tony’s voice again and his pleas for him to not do what he had to. Running over to where the bomb was steadily counting down Steve swallowed and positioned himself close to where he pictured the blast would be most destructive. Hand firm, he held out his shield and crouched behind it. Steve tried to block out the beeps that the bomb were emitting, he did not want to know how much time was left in the countdown, did not want to know when the blast would happen.

It was sudden when it happened. A new sound mixed with the beeps and distant screams, a familiar sound of thrusters and flight stabilisers cutting through the air. Steve felt himself being lifted from his position and being pulled into metal arms and rushed away from the bomb. Moments later he could hear the blast erupt behind him, and Steve closed his eyes, unable to look upon the chaos. He was dropped roughly on the rooftop of a nearby building, the battered armour of Iron Man standing next to him. Tony lifted up the faceguard and stared down at him, eyes murderous.

“What the HELL Steve?” Tony yelled, his normal calm demeanour shattering to pieces in front of him.

“If it wasn’t for you doing god knows what, you could have disabled that bomb and none of that would have happened!” Steve spat in return, getting to his feet and marching towards him.

“So it is all my fault, is it?”

“Yeah, this time it is.”

“You were really going to stand there, and let yourself get blown up?” Tony said, eyes narrowed.

“That’s what you do on a daily basis, isn’t it? Your whole life is set to self-destruct.” Steve retorted, unable to stop himself from hurting Tony in every way he wanted to protect him from. Tony gave Steve a deep look, eyes burning intensely into him before he grabbed the back of Captain America’s head, pushing it close and forcing his lips down on to his own.

The kiss was rough and hard. Tony’s mouth was chapped and dusty as he tangled his hands violently in his blonde hair forcing them closer. Steve was almost too frozen in shock to kiss back until somehow, the billionaire’s tongue found itself exploring the deep crevices of his mouth and he found himself responding eagerly. That, Steve managed to think, was unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you to everyone reading so far! Just one more chapter to go so I hope you will enjoy it!


	4. Final Approach

Post mission briefings were never a high point of Steve’s job, but this time he found himself completely unable to focus. They talked about possible reasons for the attack, why the bombs were chosen. Something about a theory that the bombs were intended to split the group up to take them out individually, thinking that at least one of them would take the bait and get blown up with it. Steve did not listen to the number of casualties, or the cost of the damage. Although he heard Tony state he would foot the bill, and an extra donation, to cover it. Steve’s mind was not in the briefing room, not on the mission. It was on the kiss. It wasn’t exactly unwelcome, as Steve had to admit his attraction to the man, although he did not realise those feelings were mutual. Or, maybe, they weren’t. Steve did not know the motives behind the kiss, and Tony’s reasoning was blurred at the best of times.

Before Steve realised it, the rest of the team had already finished the meeting and were hastily exiting the room, leaving him sat at the table by himself. Quickly standing up, he could see Tony heading for the door. He needed to speak to him.

“Tony, can we talk for a moment?” Steve called from the other side of the room. Tony ignored his request and left the room, the door closing silently behind him and Steve felt something shatter.

∞

Sleep was not coming easy to Steve that night. His mind was working on overdrive, never stopping to allow him to rest. During all this time that Steve had been trying to get to know Tony; trying to find out how he worked, the source of his pain, ways to help him, all that resulted was that the mystery thickened. Who the hell was Tony Stark? All of those hours spent locked up in his labs, working on upgrades while keeping his feelings completely hidden, and then that kiss. Steve suddenly sat up in his bed. The kiss. Every time he had visited Tony working, he was working on upgrades for _him._ All the pieces were slowly falling together in his mind. He needed to speak to Tony.

“J.A.R.V.I.S, is Tony back in lab one?” Steve asked, pulling on a t-shirt hurriedly.

“No, currently Sir is in his penthouse suite,” The English accent called through the room stopping Steve in his tracks, “and he requests that no one disturbs him.

“Can you tell him that I need to talk?” Steve asked hopefully.

“I’m afraid Captain Rogers that sir refuses.”

“Is there any chance that you will let me enter the penthouse anyway?”

“Absolutely none.”

Steve cursed lowly, pacing his room. He was restless, and he knew he would not settle until his thoughts were resolved. His eyes rested to an often neglected mobile phone that he left plugged in on charge permanently on his bedside table. It was worth a try. Picking it up he navigated the touch screen to dial Tony’s number and put the handset to his ear shakily. The phone rang, and rang, until it reached the answer machine. Resisting the urge to crush the phone in his hands, Steve opened up the messaging and slowly typed a message. And another. Then waited.

“Captain Rogers, Sir is expecting you in the penthouse.” The voice of J.A.R.V.I.S broke through the silence to Steve’s surprise, “you have access to the lift.”

Steve wasted no more time as he raced to the lift that lead only to Tony’s penthouse apartment. The penthouse was the one part of the tower that Tony kept completely private and away from Avengers activities. Steve had never been there, and as far as he knew, none of the team had been. The lift was moving too slow, but eventually it reached its destination and the door opened.

It was a bombsite. Broken bits of furniture lay scattered around the lounge area, mixed with deep stains on the cream carpet which from the broken bottles littering the room could be wine, blood, or most likely both. Tony himself was sitting on the floor, back resting against the sofa which had the upholstery clearly slashed. The moment he noticed Steve had arrived Tony stood up quickly, brushing himself down and flashed his billionaire smile that clashed beautifully with the ruined scenery.

“Didn’t realise you knew how to text.” Tony said, keeping a practiced humorous tone to his voice.

“I’m not that old fashioned.” Steve retorted, unsure whether to sit on the damaged sofa or if their conversation was better held elsewhere.

“I’m a mess.” Tony blurted, breaking through his thoughts.

“Yes.” Agreed Steve, opting to lean against the wall, “But that is why I am here.” Tony eyed him suspiciously.

“Drink?”

“No thank you.”

“A hot drink?”

“You’re stalling, Tony.”  Steve paused, “It’s me, isn’t it?”

“Excuse me?” Tony asked. His mouth was twisted in confusion.

“What you saw in the vision, it was something happening to me.” Steve said slowly, “That is why you keep upgrading my equipment, why you…” he touched his fingers to his mouth gently, trailing off. He knew he was right when Tony turned around half way through his sentence, facing the opposite way to where Steve was standing. Steve approached him, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“It wasn’t just you.” Tony said in a low voice, “it was everyone. The whole team.”

Steve could feel Tony trembling just slightly under his touch. He was still resisting breaking down his public façade.

“Tell me about it, please.”

Tony finally turned to face him and nodded. His face was full of resolve.

“I saw you all dead. All of you, even the big green guy which seems almost laughable really as I don’t know what could possibly take down Brucie.” He paused to take in a deep breath. “But it was you that…on your dying breath you said that I could have done more. More to stop it. You died, because of me.”

“And that is why you have been relentlessly trying to do more,” Steve finished gently, “All the work, you have put too much pressure on yourself, driven yourself mad. It won’t happen and it isn’t your fault.”

“It almost happened with Ultron. It almost happened today too, you were so _close_ …”  

“That is part of our job. We will always be so close.” Steve said with a hint of sadness in his voice, “but you need to accept that it is not your fault.”

“Yet earlier you said-“

“I know. I know what I said.” Steve cut Tony off cringing slightly, “I was angry. I didn’t mean it.”

“But you did mean it.” Tony said flopping onto the sofa and Steve followed him.

“Maybe.”

A silence fell amongst the pair as they both sat on the sofa, facing directly forward. However it wasn’t awkward. Most of the previous tension which the room was filled with had cleared with Tony finally able to say what was on his mind. Yet a voice in Steve’s head told him that they were still sitting too far apart for his liking.

“Cap, I am a mess.” Tony said after what seemed like an hour. Steve raised his eyebrows.

“You already said that.”

“Yes, but I _am._ I mean look at this place.” He gestured widely around the room before placing his hand on the sofa, just inches from where Steve was. The hint was obvious, even to Steve. He placed his hand carefully on top of Tony’s, running his fingers lightly along it. The billionaire did not move to acknowledge his touch, but did not move his hand away either, letting Steve know that it was the right answer.

“Now I know what was troubling you, causing all of this, then I can help.” Steve said with a small smile, “We can get through this.”

Tony’s eyes widened slightly with the word ‘we’ before his expression returned back to his normal indifference.

“There’s a long list of people who have tried to fix me. They all gave up.”

“Yeah? Well I am stubborn.”

“We will just end up fighting.” Tony stated, “Have we ever spoken without it turning to an argument?”

“We will argue,” Steve shrugged, “I get angry quick and you are quick to anger others.”

“Such glowing compliments.”

“But we will do this,” Steve said, giving Tony another warm smile, “starting tomorrow with cleaning up this room.”

Tony finally smiled in return, standing up from the sofa and placing a lamp that was lying horizontally on the floor back to its position on the coffee table.

“Why wait until tomorrow?”

“Nice try Tony, but its past one in the morning.” Steve said letting out a yawn. He did not realise that tiredness had caught up with him, “go to bed, I will meet you around breakfast time.”

“Hmm…well my dear Captain, does your offer still stand?” Tony asked, winking playfully as he walked towards a door which Steve could only assume led to the bedroom.

“What offer?”

“To stay in the room with me as I sleep.” Tony’s smile widened to a grin, “Although if you ask me, I would rather extend that to staying in my bed. You know, for entirely innocent reasons.”

“I bet.” Steve laughed, “But I never go back on my offers.”

Steve followed Tony into his bedroom, closing the door firmly behind them. Tony’s phone was still left on the floor of the lounge, open on the last text received from Steve.

_“I want to protect you to the same extent that you have been trying to protect me. I might not know the best approach to give you what you need to get through this, but I can give my love.”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was the finale! I hope everyone enjoyed it :)  
> I am working on my next story which will be up in the next few days and then I intend to upload something new at least once a week, so I hope you can all look forward to it. Thank you!


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